Problem:
The goal of this project is to determine areas that are suitable for black bear habitat in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The goal is to provide them with an acceptable habitat as well as avoid high human traffic areas.
Analysis Procedures:
ArcMap was used for this analysis. Tools included Model Builder, Slope, Feature to Raster, Euclidean Distance, Reclassify and Weighted Overlay. Data layers included shapefiles for vegetation, roads, streams and trails within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as an elevation raster file. All data was provided by the NCSU GIS 520 instructor.
The assignment consisted of building a model in model builder than successfully can run all steps at once. This process was started by creating a toolbox that the model could be created in. Then original data layers for elevation, roads, trails, streams and vegetation were added to the model layout. The Euclidean distance tool was added 3 times to compute distances from roads, from streams and from trails. Then the feature to raster tool was added to assign a value to each of the vegetation types. Finally, the slope tool was added with the elevation layer as the input to get a raster file of the slopes. The analysis of the model was restricted to the extent of the vegetation layer. After each layer had a corresponding raster file that could be used for further analysis they had to be reclassified into three categories. The data for each of the 5 layers was separated for Most Favorable areas (Reclassify Value of 3), Favorable areas (Reclassify Value of 2) and Least Favorable areas (Reclassify Value of 1). Images of these reclassifications are provided in Part B of this write-up. The final step added to the model was a weighted overlay. Each reclassified layer was given an equal weight in the weighted overlay.
Results:
Application and Reflection:
The assignment has taught me how to determine suitable areas for black bear habitats using 5 different input layers. This process could be applied to a variety of different situations. If I was determining the best area to mitigate a wetland I could use a weighted overlay analysis. This could be done on a county basis for example, Wake County. I would need elevation data for Wake County to find the slope (lower slope would allow for more water retained). Additionally, I would need factors such as soil type that would need the feature to raster tool. (Different soil types are more suitable for wetlands). Additional layers that could be considered would be land use (another Feature to Raster needed, would want areas that have no development), roads (Euclidean Distance, further from roads the better), and waters sources such as streams and lakes (Euclidean Distance, close to water the better). After preliminary tools were used to prepare the data, they could be reclassified on a 1-3 or 1-5 scale and then a weighted overlay analysis could be used to determine the most suitable areas for a wetland in Wake County.
Spatial Problem Solving Portfolio 